My P. primuliflora and P. caerulea need help

[defiantNX]

I bought a P. primuliflora maybe a month ago. It was planted in a half peat/ half sand substrate. I kept it watered via tray method with the water level only about an inch from the soil level. The plant had a 16 hour photoperiod under 4 4ft fluorescent bulbs with 2 being warm light and 2 cool light. The plant did well at first and even flowered. I had a cup over the plant to keep humidity high.

Then the plant flowered so I moved it to my tray with all my other plants and lowered the water level a little and took the plant out of the humidity dome.

And then the plant kept flowering and the leaves started looking bad.

My question is: What is wrong?

My caerulea is almost the same. I just got it maybe 2 weeks ago. I planted it in half sand and half peat and it is under the same lights as the primuliflora. It started to grow and it had 3 new leaves but today when I checked on it, the leaves had turned brown and curled. The water level was kind of low so maybe it was just drying up? I'm not really sure. I would really appreciate any opinions and suggestions.

 

[That One Guy]

Could be shock from when you took the humidity dome off. But then again, I dont much about pings so probably better for you to ask someone else

Good luck with these two, hope they make it.

 

[amphirion]

i would also agree with the low humidity shock. best first to poke holes in the cup until it gets big enough to remove the bottom of the cup, then the entire cup all together.

 

[richjam1986]

In addition to humidity shock, some warm temperate pings in particular are just very prone to spontaneous rot. No kidding.
The best way I've found to grow my P. primuliflora is on wet mats of live sphagnum, only an inch or so above the water level, where it seems MUCH less prone to rot and also sprouts new plantlets prolifically. That's part of the key to growing some of these species, to propogate enough new plantlets so that it won't matter if a couple of the older plants rot away. You may just have lost this battle, but now you have some new knowledge if you try the species again.

I haven't grown P. caerulea.

This is quite an old photo. the plants are much more numerous and larger now, but you get the point:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68248217@N04/6874460709/" title="005 by richjam1986, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7040/6874460709_3522440e5e.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="005"></a>

This link is actually a better picture:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tfegzznv4z98w3v/IMG_1090.JPG

 

[jeff 2]

Bonjour

I use for these 2 species : blond peat 30% river sand ( grain middle)70%

these 2 have not the same cultivate condition , more wet for primuliflora ( with in spring a immersion period), just slightly wet for caerulea all the time .

but nevertheless often after the flower ( for my specie) the plant dies by collar rot .

jeff

 

[defiantNX]

The only reason I don't think it is root rot is because the leaves turned brown at the tips and are going from there instead of turning brown at the base. I put the pot in a terrarium where the humidity is very high. Hopefully it will be ok. I tried to self pollinate one of the flowers but I don't know if it worked. Now it has 2 flowers and I have another cluster of primuliflora growing on/in a rock and they are flowering so I may try to pollinate one of the flowers of the cluster but I have had a hard time finding out how to pollinate primuliflora flowers. I couldn't find much information.

My primuliflora was definitely more wet than my caerulea. The primuliflora was in a cup with very high water level and when I put it in the tray with my other plants and noticed that it wasn't doing as well, I put it back in the cup and kept the water level very high. The caerulea has always been in the tray with my other plants and the pot the caerulea is in is a little bigger than my other plants' pots so the water level never even reached the halfway mark on the pot.

Richjam: I don't have large enough quantities of live spag to do something like that. I hope to eventually try that though. I'm pretty sure I have seen your picture in another post. I remember seeing it and reading about the benefits of growing primuliflora in live sphag when I was researching how to grow primuliflora.

I bet it is the humidity because one thing I noticed in my pictures is that the leaves were held more upright before I took the humidity dome off. But I wanted to get more opinions.
Root rot is caused by lack of oxygen in a wet environment, right?

 

[jeff 2]

now these 2 are always OK?

JEFF

 

[defiantNX]

Well the caerulea died today but the primuliflora is holding on. Should I cut off any more flower stalks it sends up so it can save its energy for growing new leaves?

 

[jeff 2]

have you try one cross fertilization between flowers?

may be wait for the natural withering of the flower before cutting and recreate a humid atmosphere around your plant .

jeff

 

[richjam1986]

I think cutting off the flower stalks is a good idea to save your plants energy to recover

 

[defiantNX]

I tried to self pollinate the first flower but I don't think it worked. I have had trouble finding information on pollinating primuliflora flowers. Most people say they just let the plant reproduce via the tiny plants that grow off the leaves. I watched a video on pollinating pings and I tried it on my first primuliflora flower but it wasn't the same as the guy in the video did. He said he tears the lower petals off the flower so he has access to the right parts (anthers and stigma I think?). When I tried to tear the flower the way he did, the entire flower came off minus the top 2 petals and it didn't look like the inside of his flower did but I think I found the parts and tried to self pollinate but no idea if it worked. I don't know the visual difference between "it worked!" and "awwww, no luck". I tried pollinating a few Drosera binata flowers and then eventually I cut them off and put them in a paper envelope and I don't even know if they produced any seed.

 

[jeff 2]

if it is OK , a seeds caps come from after.

jeff